On the 8 December 2006 the Children's Minister announced that the government would implement an Information Sharing - IS index, now known as ContactPoint which will be a simple secure record for all children in England.
ContactPoint will be accessed by practitioners, who work with children, to identify quickly other practitioners so they can work together with the child, family and carers, where appropriate, to ensure the child’s needs are met.
One of the drivers for this decision came from Lord Laming following the enquiry into the death of Victoria Climbié. An important finding was that despite her contact with a range of agencies, information about Victoria had not been properly recorded or shared.
Furthermore, communication between professionals from different agencies within and across authorities had been poor. Lord Laming recommended that government explore the benefits of developing a national database containing basic information in respect of all children and young people.
Beverley Hughes, at that time the Children’s Minister, commented on the work of the trailblazers which contributed greatly to this decision, by stating: 'The experiences of the trailblazers have shown that practitioners are able to make better decisions and take quicker action when they have basic information about the child and contact details for other services working with the child. They are then able to build a fuller picture of a child's circumstances. This will allow for real benefits in service effectiveness and safety.'
Lewisham was one of the trailblazers and the LISA team implemented the local IS index currently used in Lewisham. Based on the early trailblazer experience, and our role as a Lewisham Service, the LISA team has been asked by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to help with the national implementation of ContactPoint.
We have been very impressed by the level of commitment to multi-agency working, information sharing and use of the LISA team. The feedback we have received about your experiences has been invaluable in our work and that of the DCSF, and we appreciate your continued help and advice. We are aware that there are still a number of managers and practitioners who have not had the chance to sign up for training and have arranged a range of training modules to suit.
ContactPoint will be the national tool for the children's workforce to use as part of their jobs and it will help improve communication between practitioners. This will lead to effective service delivery for children and their families, ensuring their welfare is safeguarded. ContactPoint will hold basic identifying information only for a child, contact details for their parents or carers and practitioners working with the child.
It will allow practitioners to identify if children are receiving universal services to which they are entitled - e.g. early years, school, primary health care including a GP. It will be only accessed by authorised professionals - e.g. doctors, education welfare officers, social workers, teachers with pastoral responsibilities, head teachers, practitioners working with anti-social behaviour and some staff in third sector organisations.
ContactPoint will further support integrated processes such as the Common Assessment Framework, lead professional, and integrated frontline delivery including children's centres and extended schools.
It is hoped that ContactPoint will be implemented nationally by the end of May 2009.